White Cap beer returns to Two Rivers, Wis.
The Manitowoc Herald Times recaptures a time when smaller independent breweries still dotted the American countryside.
Two Rivers Brewing produced White Cap from 1939 to 1963, when co-owners George and Harold Liebich pulled the plug because of declining sales brought on by competition from larger brewers like Pabst and Schlitz.
“The big breweries produced in volume and could sell for less, they had money for TV ads, so it was kind of the beginning of the end for the little guys like us,” said George Liebich, now retired and living in Costa Mesa, Calif. “There were 44 breweries in Wisconsin when I came in 1952, half that when I left (in 1966).”
Now locals can drink the beer again, and it is even brewed locally in the Courthouse Pub, using a recipe from George Liebich.
About 200 people gathered at the new Element Bistro in Two Rivers on Sunday for the brewery reunion. The Herald Times reports: “The walls were adorned with old photos from the brewery’s production days. White Cap was poured into glasses with the beer’s signature logo, which also was reproduced on coasters. Servers wore White Cap T-shirts. Music from the 1940s and 1950s helped set the mood.”
Never underestimate the power of a locally brewed beer.